Hundreds believed injured in Texas fertilizer plant blast

WEST, Texas - Hundreds of people were likely injured in a fiery explosion on Wednesday night at a fertilizer plant near Waco, Texas, that damaged or destroyed numerous buildings, including a nursing home, authorities said.

The blast was reported at about 8 p.m. CDT in West, a town of some 2,700 people about 80 miles south of Dallas and 20 miles north of Waco.

A spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, D.L. Wilson, told Reuters the blast had resulted in "probably hundreds of casualties," saying he did not know if any of those were fatalities.

He added that a nearby nursing home collapsed from the explosion and that people were believed to be trapped inside.